


No More Mastermind

by Delly_WithAPen



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Akamatsu Kaede Lives, Different Survivors, Different murders, Protagonist Akamatsu Kaede, Rewrite, different motives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:13:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22273114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delly_WithAPen/pseuds/Delly_WithAPen
Summary: Tsumugi Shirogane was behind the killing game, and killed Amami Rantaro. She was found guilty, and executed. There's no more Mastermind. So why are they still trapped here?
Comments: 7
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

Kaede groaned as she was pulled out of slumber by the happy little jingle over the speakers in her room. She sat up and combed her fingers through her long, blonde hair, before climbing out of bed for a morning shower. Once she finished drying herself and brushing her teeth, she changed into a clean white shirt and pulled up a dark purple skirt to match her lavender vest. She pulled her music note hair pins into place, and walked to the dining hall for breakfast.  


“Good morning, everyone,” she called, her eyes scanning the room for a head count. So far, only Shuichi, Maki and Kaito were seated, while the smell of pancakes wafting into her nose told her that Kirumi was in the kitchen.  


“Morning, Kaede!” Kaito waved her over. Beside him, Maki crossed her arms, her gaze hardened.  


“Did you sleep well, Shuichi?” Kaede turned to the boy as she sat to his right.  


He blushed, “Oh, yeah, kinda. It’s just that… I’m worried what will happen to us from now on.”  


“Because of what Monokuma said last night?” she placed her hand over his, “I’m sure everything will be okay. Tsumugi is gone, now, so we can trust each other again and work together as a team to get out of this place!”  


Just then, the side doors flew open, Kokichi running through the room as Kiibo chased him.  


“I said stop! That piece is crucial for my new upgrade!”  


“And I already told that sea cow your new upgrade should be a rocket launcher at your crotch!”  


“Do not speak that way about Miu!” Kiibo slowed to a stop, “You shouldn’t be so mean to her. She can be very sensitive about her appearan-”  


“WHAT’S UP, FUCKERS?!” a girl with long, wild blonde curls stumbled into the room, waving around a glass bottle, “I FOUND THE BOOZE!”  


She staggered over to Kiibo, her high stiletto boots clunking with each step, “Hey, how’s ‘bout you an’ me go over to my place?”  


Kirumi walked into the dining hall, pushing a cart of food, “If you will excuse me, everyone, I shall wake up the others.”  


From the front doors, two girls ran inside. Moreso, one of them carrying the other ran inside.  


“I got Himiko out of bed!” she grinned, a white towel slung over her neck, her friend’s arms hanging limply over her shoulders while her legs dangled from her hands. Himiko’s eyes were covered by her dark witch’s hat, but Kaede assumed she had fallen back asleep.  


“Hey, Tenko,” she greeted, “I figured you were an early bird. How did I beat you here?”  


“Oh, I got up before the alarm so I could train in the gymnasium,” the girl gently eased Himiko into a chair, positioning her head and arms on the table like a lifeless doll.  


“Aw, man, we should do that, too, Maki roll!” Kaito pumped his fists.  


“Why? It’s pointless to stay in shape in a place like this, unless you plan to defend yourself from one of your classmates trying to kill you.”  


Tenko, having just sat down, jumped back up, “Don’t be so pessimistic about it! Exercise can be really fun, and can help you feel better, too!  


“Exactly!” Kaito stood up and raised his hand to offer her a high-five. She cringed away with a look of disgust, and sat back into her chair.  


“No, just because we agree on something, doesn’t mean I could ever trust you.”  


Suddenly, Miu leaned onto her, her large chest pushing against her back, “Aww, c’mon, bitch! Get some dick in you!”  


“Miu, please calm down!” Kiibo pried her off the girl, leading her to a seat at the far end of the table.  


“Why don’t I-” she hiccuped, “sit in… in your lap, hmm?”  


Kokichi snickered, “Geez, she’s so desperate for a man’s touch she’ll even take a dickless robot.”  


“That is absolutely robophobic!”  


“Hello, my friends~” Angie skipped into the room, “My morning prayer was much longer, this time! I hadn’t even heard the music!”  


“Hi, Angie,” Kaede waved, “Oh, good morning, Korekiyo.”  


The tall boy tipped his hat as he strode to the table, “I look forward to seeing what you will have us do today.”  


Wordlessly, Tenko glared at him until he sat several seats away from her and Himiko, while Angie bounced into the chair on Himiko’s other side.  


“Well, once everyone’s here, I have an announcement,” Kaede smiled at him.  


The other girl across from her clapped, “How divine~”  


Gonta waved to his classmates when he entered, “Good morning! Sorry that Gonta is late. There still no bugs outside.”  


“Wait, really?” Shuichi drew his hand to his mouth, “That’s very strange.”  


Throwing his head back, Kokichi groaned, “Who even cares about that, right now? My belly is grumbling in demonic tongues! Can’t I just have some sausages before they get here?”  


Kaito huffed, “No! We all promised to wait for everyone before eating!”  


Kokichi groaned louder. Soon, Ryoma and Kirumi joined the group, and the food was served warm. Himiko was shaken awake to eat a piece of toast.  


“Come on, Himiko, that’s not enough to even count as a meal!” Tenko placed one of her rice balls onto the girl’s plate, “Here, take some of mine.”  


“That’s too much,” she whined.  


“Miu, I would highly suggest that you not drink so much alcohol in the morning,” Korekiyo glanced over at her, as she concentrated on shakily pouring the wine into her glass.  


“‘S fine, I gotta grapefruit.”  


“That is nice, but not the point I was trying to make.”  


Kaede looked around and stood from her seat, “So, now that we’re all settled, I have something to say.”  


“You’re pregnant!” Kokichi called out.  


Beside him, Gonta clapped happily, “Congratulations!”  


“What? No!” she sighed, “I just want to say that even though we’ve lost Rantaro, and our future seems unclear from here on out, I won’t give up on you all! I still believe that we can move forward and defeat this killing game!”  


Kaito cheered, “Yeah! We got this!”  


“That was a lovely speech, Kaede,” Kirumi looked up at her with a small smile.  


Tenko’s eyes shone brightly, “Alright, then! I won’t give up!”  


“Neither will I!” Kiibo nodded.  


From the other end of the table, Ryoma smirked, “Might as well see where this goes. I’ll stay behind you.”  


“Yeah,” Kokichi held his hands behind his head, “I guess you can be the leader, for now. At least until I can contact my followers outside this dump.”  


Kaede beamed at the group willing to trust her, even after she messed up looking for the Mastermind of this sick game. Tsumugi was ultimately discovered and executed, but that didn’t change the fact that she almost killed Rantaro in her own hasty plan she hid from them.  


“Aww, how sweet!” a shrill voice erupted from the air. A black and white bear popped out from under the table, half of its face stretched into a toothy grin, and twirled.  


“It’s time for a new motive~” it sang.


	2. Chapter 2

“Seriously?!” Kaito banged his fist onto the table, “You really think any of us would get pushed to kill again?! Well bring it on, bastard!”  


“Ooh, someone’s feisty this morning,” Monokuma laughed.  


Still standing, Kaede crossed her arms, “Just get to the point already and leave us alone. We’re trying to eat.”  


“Fine, fine,” his paws clapped twice, and from above fell over a dozen sealed white envelopes, each with a name written on it. Kokichi picked up an envelope with his own name, and ripped it open.  


His eyebrows flew up and he let out a low whistle, “I have to say, Monokuma, I’m impressed.”  


“What does it say?” Shuichi asked, biting his lip.  


“Nishishi, like I’d share my secret first.”  


“‘Secret’?” Korekiyo echoed, his eyes sweeping the floor. Kaede swallowed, a heavy pit weighing in her stomach as she watched several of her friends frantically scour the room to find their envelopes.  


“Ah, here you go, Kaede,” Shuichi handed her one, her name scribbled messily with black marker. She carefully dug her thumb under the flap and tore through it. Pulling out a small sheet of paper, she unfolded it and started reading.  


“Everyone,” she stepped up onto her chair, holding the paper above her head, “I can’t ride a bike!”  


There was a bout of silence, before Shuichi covered his growing smile with his hand, “That’s actually kind of cute…”  


“Come on, like any of them would actually follow you and share their deepest, darkest secret just because you’re so dull-”  


“Oh!” Gonta interrupted Monokuma, having just read his own, “Gonta cannot tell left from right!”  


“Hey! Quit sharing!”  


Angie giggled, “Nyahaha~ It says here that Atua is just Angie’s thoughts, but that’s not true~”  


Her expression suddenly grew darker, her smile faltering, “Why would you lie about this, Monokuma? Please, change it to a real secret.”  


The bear’s anger fizzled into feigned terror, and he ran out of the dining hall, “So long, bear-well!”  


Maki rubbed her temples, “Finally. That was starting to get really annoying.”  


“Tell me about it,” across from the girl, Himiko yawned, opening her paper to read aloud, “‘Himiko and her master are wanted in twelve prefectures of Japan’. Well, we were pretty popular, so that makes sense I guess.”  


Kaede let out a nervous laugh, “Um, let’s not challenge that right now. How about anyone else?”  


Her eyes scanned their faces, seeing worry and shame etched over their features. She turned her gaze to her friend, who was hiding his face under his black cap.  


“Shuichi?”  


The boy flinched, “Um, no-no thank you. I just…”  


“Well, you can’t win them all,” Kokichi inspected his fingernails, “But it was a good effort on your part, if that means anything to you.”  


Kaito grimaced at the floor, “Oh, yeah? Well, why don’t you share your secret, then?”  


With a smirk, he put his hands on his hips and shifted his weight onto one foot, “I’m gay.”  


“Wai-Wha-What?” Kaito’s head shot up to stare at him, eyes bulged and mouth agape.  


“Got a problem with it, honey?” his smirk curled into a cheeky grin, “If you’re wondering, don’t worry. You’re not my type.”  


“I wasn’t-I wasn’t worried! Just… surprised,” he flitted his eyes to Maki, “What about, uh, you, Maki roll?”  


She sighed, “First of all, I told you not to call me that ridiculous nickname. And second of all, my secret is no one else’s business.”  


Standing from her seat, she grabbed an apple out of the fruit basket in front of her, “I’m going to my room. Don’t follow me.”  


Kaede silently watched her go, opening her mouth to protest before closing it again. She looked back at the group, and took a deep breath.  


“Look, the rest of you don’t have to share if it’s really embarrassing, or uncomfortable. Just know that… I’ll be here to support you all.”  


A few of the others nodded, and wordlessly returned to their breakfasts. Angie leaned forward to get Tenko’s attention, but to no avail. The girl was in her own little world, squeezing the crumpled ball of her secret in one hand and holding her chopsticks in another. Korekiyo and Kirumi glanced back at their envelopes they’d placed in front of their plates, and Ryoma continued to re-read his secret, his meal long abandoned. Kiibo held on to Miu’s unopened envelope as he tried to get her to slow down from eating. She ignored him and shoved an oversized wedge of syrup-soaked pancake into her mouth. After breakfast, the group broke away to explore on their own, or in pairs.  


Kaede sighed, “Let’s go, Shuichi. Maybe we can find a way into Tsumugi’s hidden room.”  


“Not so fast,” Monokuma’s voice chimed in behind her. She turned to see him pulling a red wagon of items--a large, golden bullet, a dented compass with a cracked glass cover, a metal pacifier, and a small, antiquated key.  


“What are these for?” Kaede picked up the pacifier, rubbing her thumb along the smooth, flat surface of the nub that would go into a baby’s mouth.  


“They’re to unlock more rooms, of course!” Monokuma cheered, “You didn’t think only three of you were allowed to have research labs, did you? You just lucked out and had your own on the first floor.”  


Shuichi inspected the bullet, surprised by the weight as he wrapped his hand around it like a football, “So, these are essentially keys to rooms on the second floor of the main building?”  


“Wow, aren’t you smart, repeating everything I just said?” the bear grumbled, “Yes. Go out and explore. And remember: there’s a surprise in every room.”  


With that, he skipped off, the wheels of his wagon squeaking behind him. Kaede held the pacifier and compass, while Shuichi shifted his grasp on the bullet to carry it under his arm, the key in his other hand. They left the dining hall to find that a staircase beside the restrooms were unbarred.  


“Wait, I could have sworn this was closed off when I passed it this morning,” the boy furrowed his brows.  


Kaede squinted her eyes shut, “I don’t remember if it was open already. And it’s too far from the dining hall for any of us to have heard anything. Maybe, Monokuma took away the gate on his way over to us?”  


“Yeah, maybe,” he swallowed, and followed her up the steps, “Um, Kaede, about my secret. I just... wasn’t comfortable saying it in front of everyone, but now that we’re alone.”  


He took a deep breath, “Kaede, I-”  


“Hey, you two!” Kaito waved from the top of the stairs, “Glad to see more of the team! Where’d you get those?”  


“Monokuma gave them to us. He said they unlock more research labs on this floor.”  


Kirumi crooked a finger to her lips, “So, after every class trial, we advance our freedom in the school, and can explore more ground.”  


“Mhm,” Kaede nodded, “I think we should all split up with an item and get the others when each is unlocked. Here, Kaito, can you take the compass?”  


“Sure! Huh?” he quirked an eyebrow at the dent, “Did you drop it or something?”  


“No, actually, it was already like that.”  


He looked back at her, and shrugged, “Meh, it’ll probably still work. I’m gonna go this way. Come on, man, let’s go together!”  


After he ran down the hall, Ryoma smirked and walked at a leisurely pace. Shuichi lifted his leg to adjust his hold on the bullet, when Kirumi calmly pulled it out from under his arm.  


“If you wouldn’t mind, I shall take this,” she cradled it in her arms, unfazed by its heavy mass. With graceful steps, she walked away.  


“I’ll join you!” Tenko bounded after her in the opposite direction of the boys, but turned her head back, “If that guy does anything weird, Kaede, just shout!”  


The girl giggled, “She’s such a worry-wart.”  


Poking his head up from behind her, Shuichi cringed, “She actually makes ME worried.”  


“Okay, then,” Kaede turned her attention to Kokichi, who stood alone, “We can be a team of three and look for both rooms together.”  


He closed his eyes and hummed, “Hmm, no.”  


“Eh?”  


“I wanna be partners with the key,” he reached out and flexed his hands impatiently, “Gimme, gimme, gimme!”  


Taken aback by his straightforward attitude, Shuichi offered the item, and it was snatched out of his fingers.  


The boy pocketed the key and took off, “Thank you~”  


Kaede blinked, and looked back to her friend, “Well, let’s get moving, I guess.”


	3. Chapter 3

As the pair walked down the long corridor, Kaede could hear the hum of a nearby air vent. Her fingers fidgeted with the metal pacifier, and she eased her footsteps into a steady rhythm. Shuichi cleared his throat and sniffled, not knowing how to break the silence with conversation. Eventually, they reached a dead end where the last room was accompanied by a statue; its stony hand wielded a tennis racket, and its posture was bent forward as if ready to hit a ball low to the ground. What caught their attention, however, was a pair of iron shackles clamped around the sculpture’s wrists.  


“That’s weird,” Kaede twisted one of the cuffs, “Ah, there’s a lock here! Maybe the key is supposed to unlock the door by going in this.”  


Shuichi sighed, “But we gave the key to Kokichi…”  


“We’ll just tell him to go this way the next time we see him. Come on, we should head down another way,” she turned around and started walking back, waving for him to follow. At the intersection by the staircase, they found Kokichi accompanied by Kaito and Ryoma.  


“Hey,” Kaede glanced at the compass, “Did you go the wrong way, too?”  


Kaito scratched the back of his head, “Yeah, we saw a creepy doll in a basket in front of the door, like it was left on a porch step or something.”  


“Wait, like a baby doll?” she held up the metal pacifier, “Was its mouth open?”  


“Oh, yeah, it was!”  


Shuichi smiled, “It must be Maki’s research lab, for being the Ultimate Child Caregiver.”  


She nodded and looked down to Kokichi, “What about you, Kokichi?”  


“I found a completely different corridor,” he twirled the key around his finger, “It was like a maze, so the only way through is probably with that hunk of junk.”  


He pointed at Kaito, “And the compass, too.”  


The young man scowled, “I’m just moving on from that.”  


“We found your room, Ryoma!” Kaede cheered.  


“Really? Huh,” he narrowed his eyes, “Why is my lab opened by a plain old key?”  


“Oh, um…”  


He let out a huff of breath, bemused, “I gotcha. It’s alright, but I don’t think I’m all that interested in seeing my lab.”  


With that, Ryoma began walking towards the maze, Kaito following him with a frown. Kokichi called a goodbye before running off once more. The two continued down the hallway, spotting a couple of large double doors with a bright golden pattern of waves and swirls along the frame. The handles were also polished a beautiful gold color, and below them, Kaede saw, was a steel statue resembling a wicker basket. She leaned forward to peer inside, finding a plastic baby doll swaddled in a welded metal sheet, having been bent and folded to mimic creases.  


“Hey, look at that,” Shuichi pointed to the doll’s eyes. On the right was a plastic blue eye, but the left had a dull spot reminiscent of a camera. Hesitantly, Kaede slid the pacifier between its rosy pink lips, and flinched when the camera glowed a deep red. They heard a ‘click’, and the double doors slowly opened, revealing a dozen strange dummies. Child-like cries and squeals filled their ears as two figures, clearly robotic, wheeled around the room.  


“Give it back, give it back!” one screeched, chasing a slightly larger doll that continued to laugh happily. In its hands was a blue-and-white checkered blanket.  


“What does this say?” another voice called out from a small cot, holding out a colorful picture book, one that looked familiar to Kaede from her own childhood. Beside the cot was a wooden crib, soft whimpers emitting from behind its high bars. Shuichi, noticeably overwhelmed from the noise, grasped one of the handles and pulled in an attempt to shut the door, but it wouldn’t budge.  


“Uh, Kaede?” he turned to her, alarmed. She wrapped her fingers around the other handle and tugged as hard as she could, digging her heels into the floor until her feet slid against the door.  


She wrung out her hands, “Let’s just go find the others.”  


They rushed back to the staircase, reuniting with Tenko and Kirumi, the former chewing on her bottom lip and pacing. When she saw the pair, she ran over, her hands flying to Kaede’s shoulders.  


“We have a problem. We have a big, big, BIG problem!” she pulled the girl into a tight hug, “I don’t know what to do. Please help.”  


Kaede gently pushed her off, “Hey, hey, hey, let’s calm down, okay? Take a deep breath, and tell me what’s wrong.”  


She sucked in a gulp of air, and blew it out shakily, the cold breeze on her neck making Kaede shudder, “We unlocked a room, but… it can’t be a lab.”  


“What do you mean?” she glanced over Tenko’s shoulder at Kirumi, “Was it just a normal classroom?”  


The maid calmly shook her head, “It appears that Monokuma has provided us with an entire room of weapons. Because none of us have talents pertaining to armed combat or warfare, it is likely that this is merely an opportunity for us to access methods of killing each other more easily.”  


Kaede’s eyes bulged. They had all promised to discontinue participating in the Killing Game after Tsumugi was executed. With the Mastermind gone, it would be more difficult to convince any of them to murder. But, with this new motive, and a room full of guns and knives…  


“We just need to keep this room a secret, and never let anyone open it,” she pursed her lips.  


Tenko stared at the floor, her eyebrows knitted in worry, “We-We can’t close it.”  


“What?” Shuichi gaped, looking back down the hallway, “Then, maybe it wasn’t just bad luck.”  


“Ooh, whatcha talkin’ about?” from behind, Kokichi suddenly appeared, a wide grin on his face. The boy yelped and spun around, taking a step back. The group heard soft footsteps grow louder, as the others jogged into view. While Ryoma appeared unwinded, even with his leather jacket and short stature, Kaito’s forehead was glistening with a sheen of sweat, his purple coat tied around his waist.  


“Kokichi wasn’t lying about the maze, but-” he coughed, “It was like… It was like an adventure movie!”  


Ryoma stuffed his hands in his pockets, “We got caught up in a few obstacles-”  


“A SNAKE TRIED TO EAT US!”  


Kokichi tilted his head, a finger to his chin, “Ohhh, I totally forgot about that! My bad~”  


“WHY YOU LITTLE-!” his hands stopped short from grabbing the boy by his shoulders, before he clenched them into fists and dropped them to his sides. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and reopened them.  


“Wow, Kaito, that was REALLY impressi-AHH!” Kokichi’s sarcastic tone rose to a shout of surprise as he was lifted into the air and tossed roughly on the floor, his feet bouncing once before lying still.  


Tenko straightened her back and batted her hands together, “This isn’t the time to get on each other’s nerves, you little degenerate!”  


“Point… taken,” he slowly sat up, rubbing the back of his head tenderly.  


Kaede stepped forward and offered her hand, which, to her honest surprise, he accepted. She looked back to Kaito and Ryoma, and explained the situation of the room full of weapons.  


“It has to be part of the shitty game,” Kaito gritted his teeth, “I can’t think of any other reason for a room like that.”  


Shuichi, who had been silently staring at the floor, lifted his head, “Do you remember how Monokuma said that there was a surprise behind every door?”  


“Huh? Yeah, that’s right,” she said, “Do you think the surprise was that they’re all stuck?”  


He nodded, “There was nothing of note in the Child Caregiver’s research lab, besides the mannequins and doors. But the door being unable to close is the only thing in common with the room Kirumi and Tenko found.”  


“There weren’t any mannequins or dolls in our room,” Kirumi said, “But I believe the doors are being held open mechanically.”  


“Mechanically?”  


“We inspected the doors when we discovered that they were stuck, and found nothing keeping them in place. However, they first opened on their own.”  


Kaito perked up, “Oh, yeah! Ours did, too!”  


“And Miu’s drunk,” Kaede sighed, “Let’s just go back to the others and keep the weapons room a secret, okay?”  


Beside her, Kokichi clucked his tongue, “Kaede, Kaede, Kaede. Weren’t you the first one to share your secret just this morning? Why the sudden change in tune?”  


“Because this could be want Monokuma wants.”  


He put a finger over his lips, smiling, “Or maybe THIS is what Monokuma wants.”


	4. Chapter 4

The group dispersed at the bottom of the stairs, Kaito joining Kaede and Shuichi to visit Miu in her research lab outside of the main building.  


“She can’t be sober already,” he said, “She emptied a whole bottle of wine an hour ago.”  


“We should still check up on her. I don’t know if Kiibo can handle her all by himself,” Kaede knocked on the steel door before opening it and peeking inside the room. Her attention was immediately drawn to a bright blaze of fire spilling out a thin tube in Miu’s hands that connected to a clunky backpack slung over her shoulders, as the girl clumsily spun in a circle.  


“I’M A FIRE DANCER!” she screamed, her slurred words barely intelligible. Under her metal work table, Kiibo was curled up in a ball, the lower half of his face dipped into the wide collar of his exoskeleton, and rocking back and forth. With a moment’s hesitation, Kaito ran over to him and tugged at his arm. Unfortunately, Miu had seen him.  


“Oh, Mister Purple~” she yelled, a flirty smile on her face as she stumbled over, “Wanna… Wanna dance with a red hot piece of prime rib?”  


Kaito dropped Kiibo’s hand and fled, the girl giving chase with several close calls of slamming into her own machinery, until they reached the back of the lab. Seeing the opening, Kaede and Shuichi crept to the table and brought the robot to the entryway. Kaede watched as Miu closed in on the boy, a small flame licking at the air like a lighter while he leaned back against the industrial sink.  


“Sorry about this, Miu,” Kaito pivoted to snatch the pull-out faucet away and twist the handle, “But you need to COOL OFF!”  


She shrieked as her face was doused with a gush of cold water, dropping the tube and falling backward on her rear with a loud ‘thud’. Her mascara ran down her cheeks while she shook driblets of water out of her messy hair, her lips pushed into a small pout.  


“No one e’er says a simple ‘no’ anymore,” she muttered, shrugging off the backpack and shifting to cover herself with the front of her skirt. Running over, Kaede ripped out a paper towel from the dispenser above the sink, and held Miu’s chin still.  


She gently dabbed at the girl’s cheeks, ignoring the blush that flared up from under the ruined makeup, “Are you alright, Miu?”  


“‘M fine,” she closed her eyes, “But I think the bouncer here sucks ass.”  


“Wha-I’m not a bouncer!” Kaito protested, before sighing in defeat and scratching the back of his head, “Whatever. I’m sorry again, for getting you wet.”  


“Oh yeah? So you’re gonna take care of the mess you made?” Miu’s mouth stretched into a lascivious grin, one of her arms pushing up her breasts while her other hand played with a thin strap of her garter belt clipped to her knee-high socks.  


The pull-out faucet still in his hand, he squirted another stream of water at her, “No. No. No, thank you. Go to bed.”  


Her response was garbled, but sounded like, “I’ll stop! I’ll stop!”  


The three left Kiibo to care for her as she had sobered enough to remember where she was, and found themselves walking toward the dormitories.  


“I’m gonna check on Maki roll!” Kaito flashed a thumbs-up and ran off.  


Once he was out of sight, Shuichi mumbled, “I don’t think he should keep calling her that.”  


“It’s cute, though!” Kaede turned to walk down the hallway, “Do you want to check out the library again?”  


“Uh,” he paled, hugging himself tightly, “I don’t-I don’t know… I mean, after yesterday…”  


With a sympathetic smile, she placed a soft hand on his shoulder, “I’m sorry for putting you in such a tough spot like that, especially when I didn’t even trust you enough to tell you what I did.”  


When he didn’t reply, she continued, “But you really showed everyone the true power of your talent. I don’t know what would have happened if everyone voted for me.”  


“Me neither,” he whispered. A wave of guilt washed over her as she thought back to the first class trial. Just before she was about to confess--ready to accept whatever grueling punishment awaited her--Shuichi spoke up. Tsumugi’s alibi was in the bathroom, alone, at the time Rantaro was killed. The mastermind had a secret passage in the library, and watched Kaede arrange her plan to end the Killing Game, from the moment she hid that shot-put ball in her backpack. Shuichi, the Ultimate Detective, had given them a chance against a killer who rigged her own game, while she herself had almost fallen into the hands of their captor.  


“I’m lucky any of you still trust me,” she looked down at her feet, “after almost dooming you all.”  


“I can’t speak for everyone here, but I know that I trust you because you were ready to be caught, when you thought you were the blackened. And you did what you thought was best for all of us. That’s what a leader is supposed to do.”  


Her smile grew brighter, touched by his words, “Thank you, Shuichi. I promise I’ll be better, for your sake and the sake of everyone else here.”  


His shoulders relaxed, and he wore a smile of his own, “I’ll be with you every step of the way, Kaede.”  


“Nyeh,” a voice caught their attention, and they whipped their heads around to see Himiko, “am I interrupting something?”  


“What?” she looked back at Shuichi before tearing her hand away, flustered, “No, not at all. Did you, um, did you need us?”  


The girl paused with a yawn, “Tenko said that she and Angie need a girl to judge something in the gym, so I thought of asking you.”  


Kaede, after thinking through the other options of Kirumi being busy making lunch, an inebriated Miu, and Maki holing herself up in her room, decided to simply accept the compliment.  


“I’m going to help them out real quick, okay?”  


Shuichi nodded, “Then I’ll go back to the new floor and look into the rooms we didn’t see yet.”  


“Sounds good. See you again soon!” she waved as Himiko led her to the gymnasium. Inside, Angie was lying on Tenko’s back, counting the girl’s push-ups.  


“Twenty six! Twenty seven! Uh oh, Tenko, that one did not have enough energy in it!” she turned her head when she heard their footsteps approaching, “Ah, Himiko is back with our lovely judge~”  


With a loud grunt, Tenko let her upper body crash onto the polished wood floor, “Oh, thank you! A-Angie?”  


“Hm? Oh, right!” she sat up and crawled off of her, while Tenko rolled onto her side, her face glistening with sweat.  


“You okay down there?” Kaede asked.  


“Yeah,” she panted, “Angie just… has a different… way of counting.”  


Sitting beside her, the girl poked her cheek, “If one must start over after a mistake, they are less likely to repeat them~”  


Himiko lowered herself down to join her friends on the floor, opting to lie on her back with her limbs spread out like a starfish.  


“What did you need me to judge?”  


Tenko gasped and scrambled to sit up, “That’s right! We want to plan a girls’ night!”  


“Girls’ night, the night of girls~” Angie sang.  


Kaede blinked, “That sounds easy enough to plan. Do you want it to be tonight?”  


“Well, um,” embarrassed, Tenko hid her mouth behind a fist, “I don’t… actually know what to do.”  


“What do you mean?”  


“I’ve never… had a sleepover before.”  


“Nyeh, me neither,” Himiko sniffled, her nose wrinkling from an itch, “Girls at my old school were a pain, anyway.”  


“Atua wants us to play naughty games, but Tenko said no!”  


The girl flinched away, a bright blush coloring her cheeks, “Because that’s definitely not what girls do at sleepovers!”  


Kaede placed a finger to her mouth, “Well, it happens sometimes, but those moments aren’t usually planned.”  


“Wh-What?!”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being much longer than I expected.

After bouncing ideas off of each other, the girls decided to hold a party of board games and movies from the AV room. Kaede left the gym to find Shuichi, when she noticed Gonta wandering alone in the hallway.  


“Hello, Kaede!” he waved, “Can Gonta help you, too?”  


She smiled warmly, “No, thank you. Wait, ‘too’?”  


“Oh, just like Kaito and Kirumi,” his large hand futilely smoothed down his untamed mass of green hair behind his head, “Looking for their secrets.”  


“What? Their envelopes went missing?!”  


Gonta nodded, “They said to look upstairs, but Shuichi blocked Gonta and said he will look.”  


Remembering the room of weapons, Kaede fiddled with the straps of her backpack, “Have you seen Ryoma around? Maybe he’s seen them.”  


“Ryoma? Why?”  


“Um,” her mind raced as she tried to think of a lie that wouldn’t involve the second floor, “because… because he’s so short, and low to the ground! So, uh, he’d be able to see them on the floor better than everyone else.”  


His red eyes narrowed, and his mouth shrunk into a grimace, before smiling again, “That makes sense! Thank you, Kaede.”  


Once he was out of sight, calling Ryoma’s name through the corridor, Kaede ran around the corner, past the bathroom, and stumbled up the staircase.  


“This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening,” Shuichi’s voice floated from inside the Ultimate Child Caregiver’s research lab, as she slowed to a brisk walk. She watched the boy crawl frantically along the carpeted floor, dodging a pair of mannequins that wheeled by.  


“Shuichi? What’s wrong?”  


He gasped, swivelling his head back to look at her, “Kae-OOF!”  


One of the mannequins had pivoted from out of his sight, and rammed into his side. He fell flat onto his stomach, the doll backing up and rolling around his body like he was a traffic cone.  


“Shuichi!” she rushed over to him, shaking his shoulder, “Are you okay?”  


Slowly, he rose to his knees, “Yeah, just… had the wind knocked out of me.”  


“Come on,” she pulled at his arm, “Let’s talk outside.”  


Escaping the swarm of mannequins, they sat beside the doorway of the weapons room.  


“So, let me guess,” Kaede stretched her arms, “You’re envelope… it’s missing, right?”  


His cap shrouded his face as his head hung low, “You must have talked to Gonta then.”  


“Yeah, but I’m worried that Monokuma’s behind this. He could be changing up the motive by making the unrevealed secrets disappear.”  


Shuichi mumbled something under his breath.  


“What?”  


“My secret was about a case I solved. The one that got me the title of Ultimate Detective,” he pulled his knees up to his chest, “It was a murder case that the police had trouble investigating, with a victim no one seemed to want justice for. I did, though, and I figured out that the culprit was a man who lived hours away from the victim’s house. It turns out… he was avenging the deaths of his family. I still remember his eyes, so full of hatred. It was as if… I was the one who caused his family’s deaths.”  


“Shuichi, that’s not your fault. That man should have known what would happen if he killed someone.”  


“Maybe. But, I still wonder if justice was really served back then, or if I messed it all up.”  


Kaede rested her head on his shoulder, and felt the boy tense under her cheek, “Finding the truth doesn’t make you the passer of judgement. You just make it clearer to judge, don’t you?”  


He stayed quiet, but she smiled when his muscles relaxed against her. Eventually, they returned to the first floor, where Himiko and Ryoma stood, talking.  


“And you could reach high shelves by yourself,” the girl counted another finger.  


“I’ve been making do with what I’ve got this long,” he shrugged, “A stool here, and stepladder there.”  


When she saw the pair, Himiko pointed to Kaede, “I need your help again.”  


“Eh? What’s wrong?”  


“Angie and Tenko are off asking Kirumi and Maki to the sleepover, so I’m stuck with Miu,” her shoulders slumped, “Will you come with me? I don’t know… how to be around her.”  


Kaede looked back at Shuichi, “I’ll see you at dinner, okay?”  


“Yeah. It’s probably better that way.”  


Ryoma stuffed his hands in his pockets, “You can come with me. I was about to get you, anyway.”  


“Huh? Why? Is something wrong?”  


“Just needed to confirm something,” he turned and started walking toward the dorms, “Come on, let’s get Kaito.”  


Himiko weakly tugged at Kaede’s wrist, “It’s probably just a guy thing. I’m feeling tired already, so we should hurry.”  


The girls left them behind and walked--Himiko slowing to a trudge--to Miu, who stood outside her lab with a bottle of water and painkillers. They drifted down the hall as Kaede explained the proposed the night’s events.  


“What, like a clamfest? No fuckin’ way!” Miu sneered, “If there’s nothing in it for me, I ain’t going!”  


“Well, what do you want?” she asked, a pit in her stomach as she dreaded the answer.  


The girl smirked, “I want someone to test a prototype I’ve been working on. D’you think you got the balls to meet me here tomorrow morning?”  


Kaede bit her cheek, thinking. Miu hadn’t revealed her secret to the others yet--she might not have even opened the envelope--but Himiko was a witness to the conversation.  


“Alright,” she nodded, “but I won’t go alone. And you have to promise to stay at the party the whole time.”  


“Ugh, fine,” Miu groaned, before chugging her water. The three entered the dining hall to see Angie and Kokichi at opposite ends of the room.  


“Marco!” the boy called, his checkered handkerchief wrapped over his eyes as he carefully swatted at the air.  


Leaning against the wall beside the kitchen door, Angie muffled a giggle, “Polo~”  


Stone-faced, Himiko sat at the closest chair to the door, removing her hat to scratch at the top of her bright red locks. Kaede took the seat across from her, while Miu snuck up behind Kokichi, who had just narrowly avoided walking into a wall. She was about to jab her fingertips into his sides when he spun around and palmed at her chest.  


“I thought I smelled beef,” he quipped with a malicious grin.  


Miu squealed, stumbling back, “I-I-I thought you said you were gay!”  


“Oh, I am. That doesn’t mean I won’t do it again, though,” pulling off the bandana, he unraveled and refolded it into a triangle, then tied it back around neck, “If you want to sneak up on someone, I suggest losing the whore-heels.”  


“Hey, no need to bash me when you’ve probably only ever touched your OWN dick!”  


Suddenly, the door to the kitchen swung open, and Kirumi carried several platters of food in her hands, on her forearms, and balanced atop her head.  


The girl slid each meal down the long dining table, “Please pardon me for the wait, but dinner is now ready.”  


“Oh, Kirumi,” Kaede stopped her from walking back, “are you going to the sleepover tonight?”  


“‘Sleepover’? I wasn’t aware there was such an arrangement.”  


Plopping into a chair, Angie gasped, “Ah! Angie knew there was something she’d forgotten!”  


“Ooh! Can I come?” Kokichi bounced on his heels.  


Miu slid in the seat closest to the platter of shrimp tempura, “Girls only, dumbass!”  


“With a smaller group together overnight, it will likely lower the possibility of an attack for everyone,” Kirumi thought aloud, “In that case, if you shall request my presence, I will attend this sleepover.”  


“Yahoo!” Angie cheered. From the other side of the room, the entrance door opened.  


“No.”  


“Please, Maki? I promise it’ll be fun!” Tenko wrung her hands, eyes wide and desperate.  


She crossed her arms, “I don’t want to spend all night with any of you. I like to be alone.”  


With a pitiable look, she nodded, “O… Okay.”  


Following close behind, Kaito and Shuichi separated to sit next to Maki and Kaede, respectively. Gonta held the door open for Ryoma, who acknowledged the gesture with a nod, and Kiibo, who paused his running with a gracious bow. When he saw Miu, he rushed to her side.  


“Why did you leave me behind?” he asked, “I was almost finished cleaning up.”  


“Cow tits and jailbait begged me to go to this party tonight,” she waved a piece of shrimp round by its tail.  


“Oh! May I join you all?”  


Kaede offered a sympathetic smile, “I’m sorry, Kiibo, it’ll just be for us girls.”  


His eyes dimmed a darker blue, and his mouth drooped, “I understand.”  


Korekiyo silently walked over from the chair in the corner of the dining hall, startling everyone in the room.  


“Wait, when the hell did you get here?!” Kaito shrieked, Maki prying his arms away as he clung to her shoulders.  


He blinked, his eyes expressionless above his dark mask, “I have been reading since this morning. There is a library situated on the newly-opened second floor, after all.”  


“You mean…” Kaito clenched his teeth, his eyes bulging out of their sockets, “you… went upstairs?”  


“Of course. Is that a crime?” the boy shut the book in his hand and sat down.  


From beside Himiko, Tenko slammed her palms against the table, “WHAT DID YOU SEE?!”  


“Tenko?”  


“Eh?” she twisted back to her friend, her cheeks burning.  


“Are you guys hiding something?”


	6. Chapter 6

Maki turned to Kaito, “Are you?”  


He, along with Tenko, scanned the room of faces, a look of panic spreading through their features. Shuichi stared at the platter of stir-fried vegetables in front of him, Ryoma held his head in his hand with a sigh, and Kirumi circled the table with a pitcher of water, unfazed by the current conversation.  


Muffled crunching drew Kaede’s attention to Miu, as the girl chewed with swollen cheeks.  


“Mmm!” her hand waved, “Keep talkin’!”  


Kiibo absentmindedly placed a napkin next to her plate, “Is there a problem on the second floor?”  


“Ooh! Another mystery~” Angie clapped.  


Kaede looked back at Kaito, who appeared ready to crack, and stood up, “I’m sorry, everyone. Some of us had been staying quiet about an issue, to stop you all from worrying. But, if keeping this to ourselves will only make it worse, then-”  


“Okay, okay, fun time’s over,” Kokichi interrupted from the middle of the table, “If they need to know, I should tell them.”  


“Uh… huh?”  


The boy stepped onto his chair and held up a stack of papers, “Yeah, it was me. I took your secrets.”  


Gonta gasped and whipped his head back to Ryoma. Kirumi’s hands remained steady while she poured another glass of water. Patting at the small pocket over his chest, Korekiyo glared up at Kokichi.  


“You WHAT?!” Kaito shot out of his seat, “So it wasn’t the stupid bear?!”  


“Secrets?” Miu asked, her mouth still full.  


Shuichi swallowed, his fingers gripping the bill of his cap as it covered his eyes. Himiko and Angie watched Tenko duck under the table, folding her body over herself in her chair.  


“Kokichi, give those back,” Kiibo demanded, “They’re obviously very personal.”  


“Well, DUH! They’re dubbed our darkest secrets that are being used as motivation to murder each other!” he grinned mockingly and shuffled through the papers, “But now, they’ll be useless once we all know them!”  


Maki rose to her feet, “Sharing that kind of thing isn’t for you to decide.”  


“Oh, you don’t need to worry about yours, Maki roll-”  


“Don’t.”  


“-I actually couldn’t find it. Kaito’s, though…”  


“Is none of your business, so hand it over,” her nose wrinkled as she shot him a dirty look.  


“But it’s so juicy! Just imagine, spending all this time with someone and not knowing that all along, they-”  


“ALRIGHT!” the other boy’s voice thundered through the room, his nostrils flaring, “I’M SICK, OKAY?!”  


Kaede blinked, “Wh...What?”  


“What are you talking about?” Maki crossed her arms with a steely gaze.  


“I’ve had a weak immune system since I was a kid. It’s why I snuck into the astronaut exams without a college degree. I didn’t know if I… I didn’t know if I would live long enough to get through legally.”  


“Kaito,” Shuichi spoke softly, barely above a whisper, “Why didn’t you tell us something so important?”  


“He likely didn’t want to show weakness to competitors in a killing game,” Kirumi suggested from the end of the table, before taking a sip of water.  


Kokichi rolled his eyes, “Well if you want to just take the suspense out of it, go right ahead, but I’m moving on.”  


His fingers fluttered over the papers until they selected a sheet from the middle, “Next is Miu~”  


“This is such an invasion of privacy!” Kiibo stood up and reached for the paper, only for it to be raised higher. Next to him, the girl continued eating.  


“Don’t you even care that he’s about to reveal your darkest secret to us?” Himiko scratched her chin.  


“Eh, how bad could it be?”  


“‘Miu Iruma has a technology fetish’? That’s not a secret!” Kokichi tossed the paper over his shoulder, “So lame.”  


Kiibo’s face grew serious, his mouth straightening and his eyes narrowed. Seeing the change in his features, Miu squirmed away.  


“Um, Kiibo, it’s not-it’s not why I run maintenance on you, I swear!” she protested.  


He turned to face her, “What does ‘fetish’ mean?”  


Kokichi immediately crouched down, his hands under his chin, “Yeah, Miu, what do you like to do with robots, hm?”  


“You know what? I’m too hungover for this shit. Just read the next one or shove your thumb up your ass or something.”  


With a pout, Kokichi looked down at the crinkled sheet in front of him, when Tenko mumbled from under the table.  


“What was that?” Angie cupped her ear and leaned in, “You lick curls?”  


She poked her head out, red-faced and teary-eyed, “I… I like… girls.”  


“Yeah, we noticed after the first time you called us degenerates,” Kaito looked up from his food, “No need to get worked up over it.”  


“No, I mean… nevermind,” Tenko groaned softly and hid back under the table. From above, Angie closed her eyes and smiled.  


“On my island, men and women like you exchange pink flowers of sympathy on Valentine’s Day, when you are without a partner,” she hummed, “Although, I don’t know if there are any pink flowers here.”  


“Please, just move on,” Tenko pleaded from the floor.  


“Well, no need to read THIS one, then, you spoiler,” Kokichi flung the sheet behind him, “Oh, here’s my favorite! ‘Korekiyo Shinguuji-’”  


“STOP RIGHT THERE!” Monokuma’s shrill voice screeched from the speakers. Above the candelier, a metal hatch popped open, and out sprung a wide, round machine with a long cone pointed at Kokichi. Rings of light flared around the cone, as the laser whirred to life.  


“I have a new rule in place. No sharing of secrets until somebody dies!” the cone swiveled around to point at Shuichi, “Not even in private. Understand?”  


The boy gulped, “Um, yes. Yes, I-I understand.”  


“Hmph, good,” he said, as the laser retracted into its hatch, “Now, get on with the stabbing, and the poisoning, yadda yadda yadda.”  


Kokichi hopped down from his chair and jabbed his fork into a plump shrimp, “Oh well, guess we’re down to six.”  


“And it will stay that way until one of us takes the opportunity,” Korekiyo stated, “However, this does not mean only six of us have the motivation.”  


“What do you mean?” Kaede asked, glancing over to Shuichi. His face looked pale, and his fingers quietly thrummed against the table anxiously.  


“Everyone here still has the primary motive of escape, and that motive will remain intact until someone wins.”  


Ryoma stared down at his food, “You mean until someone graduates by getting the rest of us executed.”  


“Precisely,” he nodded. With a newfound tension hanging over their heads, the class ate their meals in silence. Miu finished first, and threw her napkin over the dirtied plate before standing up.  


Kaede stopped her as she was passing by, “Don’t forget about tonight.”  


“Yeah, yeah, I’ll come by your room later.”  


Kiibo rose to his feet and bowed, “Thank you for the food, Kirumi. I know I can’t taste it, but just looking was a wonderful experience.”  


The girl smiled, “You are most welcome, Kiibo.”  


After he followed Miu out of the dining hall, Kaito, Maki, and Ryoma left for their own rooms.  


Korekiyo stood and turned to Kirumi, “That was a lovely dinner, but I’m afraid I must return to the library for a new book.”  


“I’ll join you!” Shuichi shot out of his seat, “I mean, I’d like to visit the library for a book, too.”  


He quirked an eyebrow, “Yes, I suppose you may come with me, if you wish.”  


Himiko slid off her chair, “I’m going to recharge my MP before the sleepover.”  


“Are you sure?” Tenko asked, “You might wake up even more tired than before.”  


“I’ll be okay. Just gotta think about a lot of stuff that happened,” she gave a weak wave, and dragged her feet to the door.  


Tenko bit her cheek, “I didn’t make her uncomfortable, did I?”  


“Not any more than you always do,” Kokichi said, grains of white rice sticking to his cheek.  


“It’s alright,” Kaede offered a reassuring smile, “Himiko doesn’t seem like the kind of person to hold that against you.”  


“If you say so, Kaede,” she smiled back.  


Beside her, Angie pulled at her wrist, “Ooh, I know, I know! Let’s go outside and find some pink flowers~”  


“Omigod, I freaking LOVE pink!” Kokichi yelled, his voice noticeably higher as he flapped his hands, “We should, like, totally paint each other’s toes next!”  


Angie gasped, “Yes! That is a wonderful idea!”  


“Don’t do that,” Tenko glared at the boy. Kaede watched the three walk off before turning her attention to the last remaining people in the room.  


“Well, now that everyone appears to have finished their meals,” Kirumi stood up and began collecting empty plates, “I will join you girls at promptly eight o’clock tonight.”  


Gonta glanced down at the table and started stacking bowls, “Gonta will help!”  


“I appreciate the gesture, but there is no need for assistance. You may leave the dishes on the table.”  


“But, you always do everything for us,” Kaede protested, gathering used cups around her, “It’ll be faster if we did it with you.”  


“I am the Ultimate Maid, and it is my duty to serve you all. Nothing less is to be expected of me.”  


“But,” his gaze softened into a sad look past his round glasses, “Gonta and Kirumi are friends, and friends help each other.”  


The girl raised her eyebrows, surprised, before her expression settled into its usual stoic manner, “Very well. I shall entrust you both with the task of drying and returning the dishes to their cupboards.”  


“Got it!” Kaede nodded, and carried the eight cups in her arms to the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a big decision for the direction this story will go, after a lot of thought. I know what I want this to be, now.


End file.
